The Patriarchate at Vatican II

Patriarchate, a key term to understand the Christian East, forms part of the problem and part of the solution. Part of the problem: if a new patriarchate’s lines were to be drawn and allowed to harden without correct adaptation to current circumstances (OE 9), these improvised lines of demarcation might prove hard to re-draw, as the question of canonical territory goes to show (OE 30). Part of the solution: if what OE says about the necessity of restoring the traditional rights of each patriarchate and, where necessary to establish new patriarchates (OE 11), is taken to heart, the natural Eastern character of these churches, sometimes disfigured by Latinization, will be restored, enabling the new patriarchate to have its voice more clearly heard in the community of Churches.